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THY SON LIVETH 



THY SON LIVETH 

MESSAGES FROM A SOLDIER 
TO HIS MOTHER 




BOSTON 

LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 

1918 



Copyright, 1918, 
By Little, Brown, and Company. 



All rights reserved 



OCT -! ISI8 



r 
■ j 



NortoooU prras 

Set up and electrotyped by J. S. Gushing Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 

Presswork by S. J. Parkhill & Co., Boston, Mass., U.S.A. 






-VuC { 



FOREWORD 

In issuing anonymously a book of this 
character the publishers feel that a few^ words 
of explanation are necessary. ^ The manu- 
script was received from an author known to 
them, accompanied by the following letter : 

"The notes for this manuscript came into 
my possession several months ago, but I 
have not seen my way clear to submit it for 
publication until now, when the poignant 
grief of the world moves every heart to offer 
all it may of comfort. 

"I am convinced that the simply presented 
letters of the soldier killed in Flanders con- 
tain comfort for all who now mourn or must 
mourn in the future. I should like to see 
these letters given a wide circulation through 
the medium of an inexpensive book." 

Convinced of the sincerity of the author, 
and realizing that these messages from an 
American soldier were no ordinary spirit 
communications the publishers asked for 
further information. The author replied : 

"I ask you to regard the book as truth. 



vi Foreword 

unaccompanied by proofs of any sort, mak- 
ing its own explanation and appeal." 

This book is published with the hope 
that it will fulfill the author's wish — give 
comfort to those of whom the war has 
demanded the bodies of their loved ones. 
Its message, as expressed in one of Bob's 
communications to his mother, is "There is 
no death. Life goes on without hindrance 
or handicap. The one thing that troubles 
the men who come here is the fact that the 
ones that loved them are in agony." 



THY SON LIVETH 



Every evening when I am at home, — 
and I am staying at home rather closely 
these days, knitting interminable skeins of 
gray yarn into socks for the boys in the 
trenches, — I go up into Bob's room and 
browse around among his traps and finger 
his tobacco-smelling clothes in the foolish 
way of mothers. 

A man's room is a queer place — when 
the man has gone. This one, across the 
hall from mine, is the one Bob chose for 
himself when he was graduated from the 
nursery. It was not his first choice. With 
the announcement that he no longer wanted 
to be watched over at night, he selected 
and preempted the guest chamber in the 
farthest part of the house and moved in 
with his dog and a guinea pig. He put in 
the night there, too, without a whimper. 
But in the morning he informed me that he 
felt he ought to be near me in case I needed 
his help. He moved : and the room is 

1 



2 Thy Son Liveth 

one volume of his history from the day he 
was five years old. A record of his progress 
from that time until the bugles called him 
away. His books in the shelves range from 
Mother Goose Tales to Kant and his clan of 
thinkers, and up to what Morse planted 
and Marconi made to blossom. The last 
named are the thumbed books. Bob took 
to telegraphy as a spark takes to the air wave. 
He was one of the first to raise a wireless 
mast from the top of his home and, of course, 
I had to study and experiment with him. 
He bullied me into learning the code and 
being the party of the second part to take 
his messages. Looking back upon this now, 
I am impressed with the methods that are 
used by the Destiny that shapes our ends. 
Had it not been for that inkling of the science 
of telegraphy which I gained in our play I 
should not have heard a message that — 
but of this I will speak further. 

It was something of a bore to me to put 
in my time trying to master a complex thing 
like the wireless ; and, of course, I never did 
become proficient. But when the grind was 
over, and we both had acquired some speed 
and receptiveness, it was great fun ; and we 
had a secret between us that made us pals. 
We used to sit up here in this room and pick 



Thy Son Liveth 



up diplomatic secrets which we could not, 
fortunately, decode, and international mes- 
sages which we could not, unfortunately, 
I believe now, decipher. And when Bob 
began to really grapple with the mathematics 
which were to make his path straight to his 
eagerly adopted profession of electrical engi- 
neering, he spent his leisure hours in trying 
to simplify Marconi's already simple appa- 
ratus. 

We were here together the day Milly, 
the maid, brought up the afternoon mail 
and gave Bob a long, official-looking envelope 
which proved to contain an order from Wash- 
ington to immediately dismantle the wire- 
less apparatus. We had heard that amateurs 
were making nuisances of themselves — even 
in space; but it came as a shock to find 
that we were included in that list. Bob 
was literally a young thunder-god when he 
stood above his instrument and flashed his 
protests to the capital. Every time I glance 
toward that corner of the room I recall 
how he looked with his "mad on", as little 
Myra Kelly used to say. He is a good-look- 
ing boy, tall, athletic, strong-featured and 
blue-eyed, with his dark hair brushed straight 
back in the fashion young New York has 
so generally adopted. He had on his work- 



4 Thy Son Liveth 

ing togs at the time of which I speak : gray 
trousers, low collar and soft tie. He was 
tense with indignation. 

I suggested that there might be something 
doing which we did not understand. He said 
he ought to be told why he was being bossed 
about like that; and he intended to find 
out what the deuce the government meant 
by it. We did not find out very much. 
But the curt message to dismantle without 
delay was not long coming. Bob showed 
a little fight. I told him that we had never 
been obliged to practice obedience to those 
in authority, so it came hard ; but as Ameri- 
cans, united for the good of all in a common 
cause, it seemed the thing to conform to 
any requirement and ask why afterwards. 

He did not yield without a struggle; but 
he yielded. 

"It's a darn shame," he grumbled, as he 
came back through the window with the 
multiple antennae in his arms and subdued 
the wires to a coil upon the table. "I 
believe I was just on the verge of hitting a 
plan to do away with a lot of this trumpery." 

He sat on the edge of the table and dangled 
his long legs restlessly. 

"Darn it," he repeated, in vexation, "I'm 
going to hire a little etheric wave of my own. 



Thy Son Liveth 



Why, mother, James" (he meant WilHam 
James, of Harvard ; rather a Hon in his 
estimation) "James says that all the means 
of inter-mind communication are at hand 
and available. Their utilization only awaits 
developed human intelligence," 

He started to put av\^ay the coils and vari- 
ous parts that he had brought in ; but de- 
cided to leave the receiver where it was 
until he figured out some plan to make labo- 
ratory use of it. I left him fuming, literally, 
in a blue haze, and went down for tea. 

Our house is one of the old homes on the 
Hudson below Tarry town, I was born, 
married and widowed here : and here Bob 
first saw the earth-light. The people who 
live with us and serve us are, in turn, served 
by us. We feel ourselves, truly, a part of 
the soil. We live simply, and have had 
just the ordinary experiences of the com- 
fortable American family in church and 
society and home, I want to dwell upon 
this sane and altogether unimaginative exist- 
ence on account of what I have to tell 
later. 

Milly had brought in the tea cart, and Bob 
came down to join me. He was still irri- 
tated; but he ate a whole jar of Damson 
jam and demolished the bread plate until 



6 Thy Son Liveth 

I had to remind him that we were only two 
hours from dinner. 

"Let's go out somewhere," he jumped 
up, laughing. "Tramp or row, which shall 
it he? I'll get your wrap and scarf." 

I chose the river. I knew the canoe would 
keep him occupied, and I felt that his nerves 
needed steadying. We went out and down 
to where the little boat was bumping its 
nose against the pier, and in a few minutes 
Bob was sending it, with his college stroke, 
toward the fleet that lay in the river. We 
have liked to be together in great moments 
— the boy and I. This was a great moment. 
We paddled in and among the ships and 
looked up at them with pride in our hearts. 

"They look invincible, don't they?" I 
quavered. 

He gave me a quick look. 

"Mother, that's what you said the day we 
went over the Lusitania.'' 

My heart plunged, sickeningly. The light 
seemed wiped from the sky. Bob was still 
staring as though he, too, had suddenly 
seen an object, long unlieeded, before his 
eyes. 

"What I want to know," he jerked out, 
" is this : Wliy aren't we at war with Ger- 
many, when Germany is at war with us?" 



Thy Son Liveth 



He stopped to shout to me not to rock 
the boat. I think I nearly sent it to the 
bottom of the stream. For, suddenly, I 
saw what had stopped our play with the wire- 
less. All the events of the past few weeks, 
which had appeared of little consequence, 
loomed big before me. 

"Let's go home," I said weakly. "And 
don't talk to me. Our country is at war — 
and I did not know it until this minute." 

He devoted all his attention to getting 
free of the ships and avoiding the big swell 
made by a small tug. I wondered if it 
was the fading light that changed his face 
so when he said, at last: "You know what 
that means, mother ? " 

And I answered, untruthfully: "I know 
what it means." 

He suddenly smiled and threw a paddle 
full of spray over me as we landed. 

"Oh, you Spartan mother!" he laughed. 
"That 'come back with your shield or upon 
it' business does not go with such a fat little 
rascal-ma as you are. Come, I'll race you 
to the house." 

But I held back. 

"Robert, don't," I whimpered. "I am 
an old woman with a boy that is going to 
the guns." 



8 Thy Son Liveth 

He came back and put his arm around me, 
for I was trembhng. 

"We can't start the thing ourselves," 
he said ; "we've got to wait for Washington. 
So cheer up. Who can tell what may happen 
to stave it off ? " 

But I knew that it was to be. Knew as 
well as I did months later when war was 
declared. 

Meanwhile we went about our ordinary 
ways, with the exception that I concentrated 
on Red Cross and foreign relief work and 
withdrew from some of my club activities. 
Bob entered Columbia and came out for 
the week-ends, at which time I had our usual 
house parties which included so many pretty 
girls that he could not, for the life of him, 
fall in love with any one. People thought 
that I wanted to monopolize my son and 
keep him from his own love and happiness. 
But he knew that my hands were off his life. 
I was just an old campaigner showing a good 
way but leaving the youngster free to dis- 
cover a better one, if he could. I was rather 
surprised, however, as the weeks passed 
and he was still heart free. I think his mind 
was more or less occupied with his electrical 
experiments and he still fussed over his 
demolished wireless station and spent many 



Thy Son Liveth 9 

hours, when he should have been skylark- 
ing, over the instrument on the table yonder. 

" Thunderation, mother," he said. *'I 
can't get away from the feeling that I ought 
to get up to the nth degree in this science ! 
The Germans are using it in ways that we 
do not know. And if I am called to fight, 
as of course I shall be, I want a trick up my 
sleeve that will beat the enemy at his own 
game. Anybody but you would laugh to 
hear me say it; but I have a hunch that 
I am going to be needed in some particular 
capacity before we win this war. And 
you mark my words : some day when you 
are up here in this old room of mine, you are 
going to hear from your little Robbie ! I 
am going to put the thing together as well 
as I can and keep within the restrictions, 
and when I am in France I'll see if I can't 
figure out a system of relays or something 
or other so that I can get in touch with 
you."^ 

I did not think it possible then. But I 
remembered what he had said when the 
old house was only a lonely, gray pile of 
empty rooms, and he had gone, with the 
unit, at the first call to arms. 

What I felt to see my only son go to war is 
just what other mothers have felt and will 



10 Thy Son Liveth 

feel as more and more young men are given 
to their country. But what further I have 
to reveal is what every father and mother 
should know. And quite simply I am going 
to tell it. 

Bob was assigned to an Engineers' Corps 
and soon won his commission as second lieu- 
tenant. He was among the first to cross. 
I had a dozen letters from "Somewhere 
in France", and it was not hard to catch 
something of his spirit and enthusiasm. He 
was glorying in his hard work and his pros- 
pects for getting a whack at the Hun. He 
had qualified for wireless work, much to his 
delight, and had been out on a reconnais- 
sance. Pershing, himself, had commended 
him. He warned me not to worry if I did 
not often hear — that letters are hard to get 
through. And now came one telling me of 
fun in camp and the brighter side of soldier- 
ing. He added that I had been a brick 
to him and made him a man. 

I brought this letter up to read in his room 
and was laughing and crying over it, as 
women will, when the wireless signaled 
"attention." I sprang to the key, and in a 
moment I had the message that Bob had 
promised to find means to send me here. 
It is before me now as I made the transla- 



Thy Son Liveth 11 

tion from the Morse code, adding only the 
marks of punctuation : 

"Mother, be game. I am aHve and lov- 
ing you. But my body is with thousands 
of other mothers' boys near Lens. Get 
this fact to others if you can. It's awful 
for us when you grieve, and we can't get 
in touch with you to tell you we are all 
right. This is a clumsy way. I'll figure 
out something easier. I'm confused yet. 
Bob." 

So the news that my son had been killed 
came to me from his own intelligence by 
the methods we had used together in our 
experiments here in this very room. And 
so I am transcribing it, as he told me to do, 
for all to see who can be convinced of its 
sincerity. I have no explanations or proofs 
other than those that are given here : A man 
who was hilled in battle and is yet alive, and 
able to communicate with the one closest to 
him in sympathy, must make his own argu- 
ments. I have no knowledge of established 
psychic laws or limitations. But I know lohat 
I know. 

My own emotions, the more or less event- 
ful chapters of my life and the lives of those 
about me, have nothing to do with this book 
of letters from far places. Bob and I want 



12 Thy Son Liveth 

to ease, so far as may be, the intolerable 
anguish of the world. There was nothing 
spectacular or notable in his death. A 
month later the papers gave his name among 
hundreds of others that were mowed down 
by German guns. He must have communi- 
cated with me very soon after he fell. And 
first and last his urgent desire was, and is, 
to reassure and comfort the families of 
"departed" soldiers. In the messages that 
follow in their order, many will find a natural- 
ness that must appear absurd. They will 
feel that, as in the case of all experiments 
beyond the bourne of the material senses, 
the spiritual communications are sadly mixed 
with earth. In this view I can sympathize. 
I have always turned away from books of 
alleged spiritual sources because I have felt 
that the author-soul was not advanced intel- 
lectually beyond the very ordinary human 
scale. I wanted the evidence of an imme- 
diate angelhood : all-wise, all-seeing, all- 
knowing. But I am now convinced that 
the processes of education among the worlds 
are somewhat the same ; and I am decidedly 
comforted to realize that Bob Bennett is 
Bob Bennett still. Loving and slangy and 
familiar — but with a tremendously enlarged 
sphere of activities and absolute freedom 



Thy Son Liveth 13 

from physical handicaps and the restricted 
period of years. 

I have had, up to the time that I began 
to arrange for pubhshing, ahuost daily 
communications from my son. Some of 
these are personal letters which I shall not 
include in this work, lest in the future some 
one may pierce our necessary anonymity. 
But all those that seem to me to clear some- 
what the mystery, and to simplify the 
methods of mental intercourse, are given as 
received. As will be noted by an early 
letter, the use of the wireless telegraph was 
soon abandoned for the better-known auto- 
matic writing simply as a matter of conven- 
ience. This will, of course, make skeptics 
say that these are the writer's subconscious 
emanations — nothing more or less. 

Well, maybe they are. I cannot say that 
they are not. For I do not know what 
subconsciousness is. What stuff it is made 
of. Whence it comes or whither it goes. 
Maybe it is the bridge, the link between the 
mortal and immortal part of man. Maybe 
it is the inherent life which all scientists, 
from first to last, have sought without find- 
ing ; that invisible stumbling block over 
which every well-built theory of atoms and 
electrons takes its headlong fall. If sub- 



14 Thy Son Liveth 

consciousness is one of these, it is more than 
probable that my boy is using its avenues 
of communication. For they must be clear 
enough from his end of the road. In fact, 
as will be seen in the notes, if we tvere not 
asleep at our simtchhoards, we might all he 
in communication as easy and voluntary as 
are the people in the commonplaces ivho send 
telegrams to each other every day. 

Bob dwells upon the simplicity of it. He 
makes it plain — to me — that there is 
no need of the outside "hocus-pocus" of 
mystery-trumpery and cabinets and ignorant 
go-betweens, trances and crystal gazings, 
and all that sort of thing. He dwells on the 
discovery that the mortal really puts on 
immortality. He finds it difficult to de- 
scribe what the difference is in what we call 
the spiritual world : the ways of living, eat- 
ing, drinking, and dressing. "As far as 
I can see," he says, in one of his very late 
letters, "this is a place where one can carry 
out his own inclinations : for instance, I am 
plugging away at the wireless as I wanted 
to do before I came. I live with a lot of 
other fellows in camp just now." 

In looking over his letters I cannot see 
that he has revealed the secrets of his new 
surroundings. He does not seem to be 



Thy Son Liveth 15 

withholding anything purposely ; but my 
curiosity in regard to who's who in Heaven 
and my questions concerning theological 
matters do not, as yet, receive attention. 
It may be that the Higher Diplomacy with- 
holds these things, or it may be that w^e are 
not sufficiently enlightened to understand 
even these things with which we are con- 
tinually confronted. I do not in the least 
understand the simplest phenomena of vis- 
ible nature, but if Bob does not tell me how 
he gets his clothes, or intimate as to who does 
the work in the far places, I think there 
must be something apocryphal about his 
messages. And because of unbelief I fall 
back into the common attitude : a woman 
mourning for her son and cannot be com- 
forted. 

Faith has accomplished about every duty 
assigned to it, apparently, but the recogni- 
tion of the free progress of the liberated soul. 
"Proof, proof," we call. But there is no 
proof. And so some saturnine man builds 
a creed out of his own meager understanding. 
And he puts heaven high and hell low, and 
a weak and violent God between them. If 
I had not the certainty that these communi- 
cations I have are authentic, the literal mes- 
sages from my son to me, I should still rather 



16 Thy Son Liveth 

accept a pleasant faith on trust than an 
unpleasant one on the same condition. 

One thing alone is certain, — the inevitable- 
ness of that change which most of us call 
"death" and poet-seers, like Wordsworth, 
call "transition." The words are synonyms. 
My boy has brought me to a sense of the 
sane and simple naturalness with which our 
family life goes on when we have finished 
this classroom work and progressed to far 
places. I think there are analogies in nature 
at every hand : millions of little shelled 
creatures, the names of which I do not know, 
and as many more minute organisms undergo 
successive changes and developments that 
are not less marvelous than the emergence 
of the soul from the body. 

Those who have experienced death have 
found it easy : particularly those who have 
gone out in the crash of battle or tremendous 
and sudden disasters. Bob speaks at first 
hand of this. And from now on his letters 
must bear the consolation that he so wishes 
to extend : Blessed are they that mourn, 
for they shall be comforted. 
Letter Number 2 (by wireless) 

Attention : Get this across — there is no 
horror in death. I was one minute in the 
thick of things, with my company, and the 



Thy Son Liveth 17 

next minute Lieutenant Wells touched my 
arm and said: "Our command has crossed: 
Let's go." I thought he meant the river, 
and followed him under the crossfire barrage 
the Tommies made, up to a hillside that I 
had not noticed before : a clean spot not 
blackened by the guns. Lots of fellows 
I knew were there, and strange troops. 
But they looked ciueer : I glanced down at 
myself. I was olive drab all right. But 
my uniform was not kliaki : it seemed to be 
a fabric of some more tenuous kind. I had 
no gun. I overtook Wells. "What in the 
deuce is the matter with me, with us all?" 
I asked. He said, "Bob, we're dead." 
I didn't believe it at first. I felt all right. 
But the men were moving, and I fell in line. 
When we marched through the German 
barbed-wire barricades and in front of the 
howitzers, I realized that the body that could 
be hurt had been shed on the red field. 
Then I thought of you. Sent that wireless 
from an enemy station in the field. The 
officer in charge couldn't have seen me. But 
he heard, I guess, by the way his eyes popped. 
He sent a few shots in my direction, any- 
way. I am using an abandoned apparatus 
in a trench to-day, depending on relays. 
We are assigned to duty here for the present, 



18 Thy Son Liveth 

according to Wells. I don't know how he 
knows. It seems while we have no super- 
natural power to divert or stop bullets, we 
can comfort and reassure those who are about 
to join us. There has been much talk about 
the presence of one supposed to be the Savior 
among the dying. I should not wonder if 
that were true. The capacity for believing 
is enlarged by experience. But as yet I 
have no more real knowledge than any of 
the other fellows. I will let you know as 
I gain information. Others, like me, will 
pick up and relay the messages. 
Number Three (by wireless) 

Attention : As I see this war, a curious 
understanding of its purpose and ultimate 
result is dawning in my mind. The soldiers 
are the pick of humanity. The young, 
brave, blameless manhood that has been 
brought to its majority on the earth so that 
it may form an ideal democracy in this 
existence which, I am told, is of permanent 
character. I am bungling the big idea. 
But, you know what I mean, mother. I'll 
grow clearer, maybe. Wells is getting to be 
a whale of an oracle. Some of the fellows 
are in a funk, and others are sullen and un- 
happy : homesick, I guess. The young 
married men mostly. If they could get in 



Thy Son Liveth 19 

touch with their folks, it would be all right. 
That's why I want to try and simplify some 
system of communication. You have never 
failed me : and now if you can get it firmly 
fixed in your mind that I am I, not what 
is vulgarly called a ghost but a being just 
as much as I ever was, we can start something 
worth while. It's got to begin with some 
one as level-headed as you are. I'm called 
away. 
Letter Nuinher I^ (by wireless) 

Attention : We hit upon the key word, 
when we agreed to use the word Attention 
in our wireless practice. It is the word 
that unlocks the inner, or secret, car to hear 
otherwise inaudible voices. Do you get 
me ? I mean : when you want to talk with 
me, concentrate your mind by calling your 
own faculties, the unused ones, mostly, to 
"attention." See if they don't respond. 
It may require practice, but I am told there 
is no reason in the worlds, — notice the 
plural, — why we should not talk with the 
greatest ease and without any mechanics. 
Come up and try to-morrow. See if I can't 
project my thought direct to yours. Bring 
pencil and tablet if you want to. But a 
fellow here who knows all about automatic 
writing says there is no pencil-guiding by 



20 Thy Son Liveth 

unseen hands about it. The recipient just 
tal^es dictation. Better bring the pencil. 
You will want to report this just as it is for 
our purpose. I'll find out all I can, but just 
now we are engaged here in relief work. 
Some of the chaps are very young, and we 
see them through. I'll explain about those 
unused faculties when I learn more defi- 
nitely about them. 

Ed. note. I tried to write automatically 
that afternoon but what I got did not sat- 
isfy me. I seemed to be " faking " the 
message. I gave it up and called Bob by 
wireless as I used to call him. He did not 
answer. I tried again with the pencil and 
had a few words. But afterwards we pro- 
gressed with increasing ease and freedom 
by means of that method. The unnum- 
bered messages following were all automati- 
cally written. 

This is harder — will have to practice. 
But it can be done. 

Try to realize that thought is the one 
thing that is absolutely unlimited. You can 
send your thought to the most remote place 
as easily as you can direct it to something in 
your immediate neighborhood. Science has 



Thy Son LIveth 21 

not explained why. Inter-space communi- 
cation is not more mysterious than this. 
I want to put this over, mother. Not on 
our account alone. But because the little 
old world needs comforting. If we can con- 
vince folks that this is true, we can go a long 
ways toward wiping out sorrow. I must go. 

Don't go to mediums. Some are, of course, 
genuine. But the dollar sign is apt to cover 
fraud. If you want to get in touch with us 

— get in touch. That is, get into a quiet 
corner and listen with your inner ear. Your 
unused finer perceptions. You will be able 
to really hear what I am saying, after some 
practice. I am told this by a man who has 
come to instruct us. I think, on my own 
hook, that you will have to rid your mind of 
worry or prejudice before we can make much 
headway. Any one who wants to can put 
out a mental wire that will be picked up. 
But you must "beware of strangers!" 
Quote that. There are scalawags ready to 
jump into all conversations and mix up things 
if they are permitted to do so. Keep your 
wires clear. 

You ask how to keep the scalawags away 

— and who and what are they ? I don't 



22 Thy Son Liveth 

just know who they are. I'll try and find 
out. But you have to "make a law." 
That sounds occult and I do not want any- 
thing to be spooky or unnatural in these 
letters. But that is the expression I hear 
often concerning this particular difiiculty. 
These wire tappers cannot get by, it seems, 
unless you permit them to fool you. You 
say: "I will not entertain mischievous 
spirits" — or something like that ; and they 
beat it. I do not know why that is effica- 
cious. But it is. 

I have just come in from duty. I mean 
by coming in that I have come back to what 
I may describe as field headquarters. As I 
get more accustomed to conditions, I see 
that there are about a thousand men here, 
some of them boys from my regiment. We 
are really what might be called ambulance 
or Red Cross units, working to relieve suf- 
fering among the wounded and to guide 
newcomers. Mother, the soul leaves the 
body as a boy jumps out of a school door. 
That is, suddenly, and with joy. But there 
is a period of confusion when a fellow needs 
a friend. Quote that. We are the friends. 
I guess that is the best explanation I can give. 
I told you Jack Wells came through with me. 



Thy Son Liveth 23 

He has gone away now. I am told we go 
to other departments of usefuhiess, as others, 
suited to this field work, come on here. I 
will tell you as much as I can. 

You complain that you cannot really get 
much of an idea of conditions here from what 
I tell you. I want you to be able to take 
my dictation like a prize-winner and, in the 
meantime, I'll try and get a line on things 
here. So far it is nothing very different 
from what we knew before the change. 
We go and come and serve. But evidently 
we are not seen. We do not seem to need 
food or sleep. I suppose we absorb moisture. 
I think our tenuous bodies are composed 
like clouds. But I do not know. Any 
way, your boy's heart is still in the right 
place. 

I see your mind like a white screen, and 
I know I can write on it. Let's make a 
regular job of this book. You can edit 
the copy you get, of course. But don't 
put any literary frills in it, will you ? When 
we get into the swing of it tell some of the 
other mothers. But teach them how to 
establish communication with their boys, 
themselves. 



24 Thy Son Liveth 

I guess you had better wait until you feel 
me calling you 'after this. We have impor- 
tant duties that we should not leave. About 
telling others. That is what we are doing 
this for, isn't it? A kind of a "comfort ye, 
my people" idea. But we must be very 
wise and level-headed. I don't believe I 
should try to get messages for others. Every 
man his own medium is the best plan. 
It would be human nature to doubt the 
genuineness of a letter from this side. Faith 
stops short at this threshold. But show 
some friends who need this particular kind 
of comfort what you know. Don't back 
out when you are laughed at. It's all in 
the big business we have taken on. 

We do not know anything about the out- 
come of the war. Some of the teachers — 
a large number have now arrived and are 
mingling with us in a friendly way — refer 
to past calamities in which the race has 
been practically obliterated and the earth 
reformed and repopulated. From this point 
of view that is not such a terrible thing to 
contemplate. For we must start on the 
fact that the soul is immortal. There is no 
death for the individual. As so many — 
even material-minded men — realize, the body 



Thy Son Liveth 25 



is an exchangeable garment and does not count 
in the history of the man. It seems that 
there have been an interminable number of 
races and nations lost in obscurity. They 
have moved on to other worlds, as this 
present race must be moved on. I do not 
know why civilization is allowed to reach a 
high mark before it is wiped off the slate. 
But that has been the rule, and so the Creator 
must have a purpose. 

I asked one of the teachers, and he said 
that the earth is a preparatory planet. The 
human race is marked for an advanced 
existence and is brought to as high a degree 
of perfection as may be necessary to bring 
up the average. That is : The high degree 
of intelligence of the greater number lifts 
the lesser in the scale. We begin the new 
existence where we left off in the old. The 
more we have gained, the greater our ad- 
vancement among far more favorable condi- 
tions. That is not clear. I'll get a better 
hold on the idea. 

There are a number of dogs with us. I 
do not know whether they are astral dogs or 
not. They look just the same to me, and 
they go with us and help with our work. 



26 Thy Son Liveth 



The boys who come out are simply delighted 
to see them. 

Jack Wells is back with us and in immedi- 
ate command of our company. He has been 
to see his mother and he is one happy boy. 
She is somewhere here. Has been out for 
a long time. But one of the messengers 
found him for her and he got immediate 
leave to go. That sounded pretty good to 
me. He will tell me about things later. 
We are very busy. 

Don't try to hold your pencil any differ- 
ently than you hold it ordinarily, mother, 
dear. I am not guiding your pencil. As 
I figure it out, I am simply dictating these 
letters, by some improved form of telepathy, 
to your mind. You do the writing. It is 
wholly simple. I really talk, and you hear. 
Please get that to our audience. We all 
have perceptions and faculties that are 
capable of lifting us into supermen. The 
rub is we do not suspect our own powers. 
Do not let yourself be led into a maze of 
reasons why this thing cannot be. What 
is, is. If a theory of cosmic consciousness 
accounts for these communications to any 
one ; if he thinks your mind is drawing them 



Thy Son Liveth 27 

from a reservoir which holds dream stuff 
and the intangible echoes of the thought 
of all ages, let it go at that. Don't 
argue. 

It is a funny thing that people always want 
to accept the most difficult creeds and to 
believe the most elusive doctrines. They 
(people) are a bundle of credulity and stub- 
born doubt. Of course their eyes will be 
opened in good time. But think what peace 
of mind they are missing. There are horses 
here, too. Good old fellows, that nose a 
chap's shoulder. I can't answer for them 
yet, or the dogs either ! 

I told you that we are not given any 
power over bullets. That we can comfort 
but not save from what you call death. 
That is not quite the case, I find. Jack 
Wells directed me to stand by a junior 
lieutenant to-day and impel him this way 
or that to avoid danger. ^In this way I dis- 
covered that my perceptions are much more 
sensitive than they were before I came out. 
I can estimate the speed and determine the 
course of shells. I stood by this fellow and 
nudged him here and there, kept him from 
being hurt. I asked Wells if that was an 



28 Thy Son Liveth 

answer to prayer. Wells said, "No, the 
young chap is an inventor, and has a job 
ahead of him that's of importance to the 
world." An older man spoke up and said : 
"Prayers are answered. Don't make any 
mistake about that. But they are not 
answered according to material ways of 
looking at things." I did not get his explana- 
tion well enough to venture to repeat it. 
I'll know more, probably, as I go on. 

Mother, dear, you are behaving like a 
brick. I tell you we are going to get this 
mortality play across the footlights. And 
it must be known as truth. I don't mean 
to call it that. But you know what is in 
my mind. If you could hear the cries that 
come to us from mothers and fathers and 
wives and orphans, you would know how 
continuously I plan and mull over this 
proposition. If you could just make them 
understand that there is no death. If you 
could just make them know that they can 
call their own loved ones to them and hear, 
at first hand, that all is well beyond what 
has truly been called "the veil." It is not 
more than that. It is not as much. A veil 
is woven fabric more or less resistant. We 
are separated from our living (I wrote liv- 



Thy Son Livetli 29 

ing ; please cross it out, because it would 
indicate that we are dead, and we are not) 
own folks by nothing but those unused 
faculties I spoke of on your side. Urge im- 
mediate development of these facidties. Teach- 
ers will, I am told, soon appear who are 
capable of waking these sleeping senses. 
With that accomplishment we shall be face 
to face. 

I can't read your mind yet. Speak to 
me as you would if you could see my face. 
Fancy that we are sitting in the dark but 
fully aware of each other's presence. If you 
ever need me, especially, do not hesitate 
to call me, or at any other time. If I do 
not hear you, some one will carry the mes- 
sage on until I get it. I have been so en- 
grossed with these strange happenings that 
I may have seemed cold. But dear, dear 
mother, I never loved you better than I do 
now. And I understand all the subtle 
wonders of your love for me, as your son, 
far better than I did before. I know you 
long for the touch of my hand, my big, red 
grip that you used to be too game to wince 
under. But be sure that I am Bob, your 
Bob, and that we are going to have all the 
time there is together. 



30 Thy Son Liveth 

You remember that we felt rather a shock 
when that woman you know edited a book 
of letters from this side in which clothes and 
victuals and drink were much dwelt upon. 
I think some one of those mischief-makers 
that I referred to some time ago was fooling 
her. There are, as I explained, many intel- 
ligences here that delight in playing jokes 
on the credulous when they can get on 
the etheric wave that is being used by com- 
municants. Of course I am not compe- 
tent to make any positive statement. But 
I think the conditions here are wholly spirit- 
ual. The physical body and its functions 
have been discharged. Only the emotions 
of the soul remain. I wonder if I can make 
that more plain? I surely want to be a 
reliable correspondent, and I want to show 
that while the human machine ceases with 
the body, all the fine raptures that made 
the happinesses of earth are with the spirit. 
I, myself, appear just as you last saw me. 
But I am doubtless clothed in that same 
cloudlike vapor that composes my body. 
I am the same, yet not the same, freed from 
the gross conditions that attend humanity 
and yet capable of love and the higher expres- 
sions of marriage. I shall have opportuni- 
ties to learn definitely concerning these 



Thy Son Liveth SI 

things and I will tell you — as frankly as 
I have always told you things that boys 
generally keep from their mothers. 

I have not seen any one with wings. We 
cover any number of miles without fatigue. 
That is a good thing, for I have not heard 
of any rest from labor being advocated. We 
do, however, rest others. We ease the boys 
in the trenches — they wonder how they can 
sleep so comfortably on the hard, wet ground, 
— and for several nights, now, I have been 
holding a sick boy in my arms. These 
duties keep us occupied almost all the time, 
but we have undiminished force and are never 
weary. I hear continually of the presence 
of the Savior on the battle fields. I think 
this must be true. Anyway, the dying are 
certain that He has been with them, and they 
are happy. They speak of His love. 

Tell this to mothers. Jack Wells talked 
with me last night, and he gave me a great 
description of what he saw when he went 
away for his visit. His mother heard that 
he had come west, and she sent a messenger 
for him. It seems the messengers are some- 
what different from the rest of us. I will 
speak of that later. Jack accompanied 



32 Thy Son Liveth 

this messenger. They pierced the envelope 
of the earth. Or at least found some exit. 
From what Jack gleaned, he thought the 
world we have believed to be so tremen- 
dously powerful is really much like the small- 
est ball in the nest of balls that are carved 
out of ivory by Orientals. One within the 
other, you know. You have to penetrate 
one to gain access to another of larger size. 
So, as I understand it, the spiritual worlds 
of our solar system are swung into space, 
not separately, but together, each on its 
own axis but all moving in harmony as one. 
The progress of the soul is through these 
spheres up to the highest development. 
The earth is the material or lowest form. 
We have often wondered why Christ came 
to save one little planet when He seemed to 
belong equally to the whole Universe. But 
it seems that this is the cradle of humanity. 
That herein was established the race of men, 
an independent order of creation that was 
to acquire through knowledge of sin and 
pain and sacrifice, a strength that should 
fit men for leadership among supermen. 
Jack's mother is in the next world, and from 
what he says I was not right about the 
manner of living. His mother received 
him in a home where other members of the 



Thy Son Liveth 33 

family were waiting for him, and it was 
just a happy reunion. While he was con- 
scious that they had all passed through the 
experience of death, he could not really 
see any change in their appearance. They 
were dressed in what appeared to be fabrics 
but were probably vapor stuff, and they 
seemed to eat and drink and live much as 
they lived on earth. It is said that business 
is conducted along ideal lines, and agriculture 
is brought to perfection. There are many 
chemists and inventors at work to develop 
resources, and as the different globes are 
intercommunicable, the earth gets the benefit 
of the discoveries. This figure is often used, 
and I guess it is a good one. Consider the 
system of planets all incorporated in a final 
atmospheric envelope as so many rooms in a 
school. All doors are open for the entrance 
and exit of every one, high or low, in the 
whole school : the separations are mental. 
A pupil can jump over any grade if he has 
the ability. Those who qualify on earth 
can enter advanced classes or conditions. 
The return or reincarnation of a spirit is a 
matter concerning which I am not informed. 
I know that many return many times. 
I do not as yet understand how this is accom- 
plished, or whether it is voluntary or an 



34 Thy Son Liveth 

arbitrary law. I hope I shall not have 
to go back. I'd rather take a fling among 
the other worlds. I could not be your boy ; 
and I'd rather have you than any other 
mother. 

Jack's mother and sister are teachers. 
It is the business of those who are familiar 
with the law of the place to instruct others. 
Ruth Wells was killed in an automobile 
accident a day or so before she was to have 
been married. Her lover went out with 
the Canadians and has been doing great 
work in the air. He came out (died) while 
Jack was there, and he came straight to 
Ruth with a messenger she had sent to watch 
for his arrival. Now they are incorporated 
in one form. I do not quite understand 
this yet. I shall have to see the married 
to know what that means. But I am told 
that a man and woman are really one. 
Each half of a whole. When they are 
mates they are united. The matter of 
plural marriages is settled in this way. The 
real mates are brought together. The others 
finding their complementary selves. It is 
a diflScult subject. Better leave it out of 
the question until I get it in clearer shape. 
I do not know which side dominates this 



Thy Son Liveth 35 

dual personality. I talked it over with a 
group of fellows here — those who have just 
come out — and none of us like the idea. 

You ask where I am? I am right now in 
and about Verdun, and I have not often 
been away from my division. As I told 
you, some of us are assigned to escort duty. 
When the boys come west, — quote that, — 
we meet and guide them across the Invisible 
Line. Most of them feel perfectly fit when 
they come. But some few are confused or 
frightened. Particularly about the sorrow 
of those they leave behind. Try and make 
this point plain to the families. The boys 
are all right. Do not mourn for them. 
Every tear tortures the dead. Know that 
they are loving their folks and anticipating 
a meeting. I must go. 

The most important thing for us to con- 
sider is this : We are just as much alive as 
we ever were, and the ties of love continue. 
This does not necessarily mean the ties of 
relationship. Love is the dominating force. 
For instance, the fact that I am your son, 
born of your body, is not the thing that will 
unite us in this advanced life. There is a 
subtler bond which has nothing to do with 



36 Thy Son Liveth 

consanguinity. Spiritual affiliation or sym- 
pathy is about what that is, as well as I 
can make out. 

But I am not yet far enough advanced to 
make any definite or authoritative state- 
ment. I only want to start this whole 
propaganda of comfort on the one sure 
thing : There is no death. 

This is during a lull in a battle. I inquired 
of the teacher why the German soldiers are 
so devoted to the Kaiser, how blind belief 
of millions came to be fixed on this one weak 
madman. For he is a lunatic. It was 
explained that a Mesmeric wave has swept 
Germania from the throne to the far borders 
since William's grandfather ruled. Mesmer, 
the Austrian, set forces into operation then, 
which he has maintained since throvigh the 
mind of the present Kaiser. 

I do not know whether that is a fact of 
science or a personal opinion. The man 
who told me is a stranger to me. He may 
not have any real information. 

Mother, I have found out another thing 
from this point of view. There is little or 
no fear of death among men who go into 
battle. The soul seems to remember, sud- 



Thy Son Liveth 37 

denly, that it may be about to repeat an 
interesting experience. The physical side 
of the soldier is dominated by the spiritual 
and carried on with a kind of thrilling joy. 
The meanest man sometimes surprises his 
comrades by exliibitions of courage. This 
is the reason. In this connection I must 
mention Cooper. You will remember that 
I wrote you about him when I enlisted : 
He seemed to be the one blot on our regi- 
mental 'scutcheon. A sniveling "willy boy" 
who was afraid to go home in the dark. We 
all wondered how he stood the examiner's 
gaff and was accepted. He had prayed, 
very likely, that he would be turned down. 
Well, he came west since I last wrote you. 
I happened to be near when the grenade 
fell in the trench and saw him grab it in his 
arms and scramble out with it before it 
exploded. He saved a whole company : 
among them many wounded. I went with 
him over the top and yelled, "Bully for you. 
Coop, old man!" Then the bomb blew 
away his mortality, and he saw me. We 
left the field together, and I took him back 
among the hills where the particular group 
of helpers headed by Jack Wells gave him 
the glad hand. He's all right and a trump 
among us. Get word to his mother. 



38 Thy Son Liveth 

I got your word about the difficulties you 
are meeting in conveying the information. 
Isn't it curious that the human mind in- 
stinctively rejects the easiest answer to a 
problem? Do you recall how we laughed 
over that epitaph on a little white gravestone 
in New England : 

*' Since so quickly I was done for, 
I wonder what I was begun for? " 

Well, get such comfort across as you can, 
but do not try to convince any one that you 
communicate with me. You would probably 
be carted off to a padded cell if you should 
tell all we shall talk about. For I feel that 
we shall get on further soon. Wells says a 
new company is to relieve us, and we will 
"proceed to our destination." 

Cooper is in a blue funk about his mother. 
She is frantic with grief, and he cannot 
communicate with her. She is like many 
Christians. She subscribes to a creed — 
but she doesn't believe it. If she would 
just take her pencil in her hand, and let 
Coop do the rest ! Then she would come 
to know that her son and all the other sons 
are living and only kept from being happy 
and full of new and splendid ambitions by 



Thy Son Liveth 39 

the tears of those they love on earth. To 
mourn is natural : but it really isn't natural 
to be hopeless. 

I got that little hint you wired me about 
knocking Christians. You see I still need 
your bully judgment. I remember your 
little old tenet that no cause is won by criti- 
cism. And I believe we have a cause, 
mother. Of course this matter of automatic 
writing, as you call it, is old and generally 
discredited. Some big, independent thinkers 
know that it is genuine in the main. But 
most folks are from Missouri. You have 
to show them something that can't be shown 
to material senses before they consent to 
be comforted. Too bad, isn't it ? 

If you could see the way the fellows here 
feel, you would know why I harp on publicity 
for this scheme of communication. There 
may be a better one. But I don't know 
about it yet. Get two or three of the sanest 
women you know who have lost dear ones, 
— and almost every one has or will, — and 
persuade them to try. Show them how you 
do. Tell them there is no mystery or flub- 
dub. Tackle Mrs. K., she is level-headed. 
Take her fully into your confidence — show 



40 Thy Son Liveth 

her these letters if you want to. Tell her 
to spread the truth. You know how you 
feel when you have been cross or unjust, or 
something like that, to some one you really 
care for. You can hardly wait to make 
up. That's the trouble on both sides with 
those who cross the line and those left there. 
Grief is mostly remorse for things done or 
left undone, and there is no chance to make 
up. Coop says he was a rotter to his mother, 
and he has lately heard her crying that she 
had been harsh with him when he was a 
little boy. How quickly they could square 
things if she only knew that he was closer 
to her in actual presence and in sympathy 
than he had ever been before. 

I want to speak about the little things 
that rankle in your heart. You remember 
when you spanked me with the hair-brush : 
and a thousand wasps of memory sting you. 
Let's laugh ! Just as we should if we recalled 
them together when you could see me grin. 
What matters now — and always — is that 
understanding love that binds us. We have 
the particular thing that will bring us face 
to face again ! We are mother and son. 
But we are more than that. We are pals. 
That is what counts. I have been told 



Thy Son Liveth 41 

this by an instructor from Somewhere in 
Space. You see we are still right near you 
in the envelope of the earth, assigned to 
the battle fields for service to the wounded 
and the dead. Quote "dead." It is a 
misapplied word. But just as French officers 
are being sent to the American cantonments 
to teach advanced methods of fighting to 
our troops, so experienced teachers on this 
side are moving among us, getting us ready 
to meet and understand new conditions. 
They look like and they are men. 

As far as I can make out, we are going to 
a very real world : a globe divided into parts 
of land and water : one of the near stars, 
maybe. I'll find out about that. We are, 
I am informed, much the same as we were 
before we came ; except that we are no longer 
limited or hampered by the flesh and bone 
body we formerly occupied. We have been 
"raised spiritual bodies" just like the old 
Book says. But it is the spirit that quick- 
eneth, isn't it? So there you are. We are 
still folks — and not still folks either — 
nobody dumb here, as far as I can learn. 

To return to the worlds. I hear that we 
are to swing along in the old reliable solar 



42 Thy Son Liveth 

system with the rest of you. It seems 
Mother Earth has all the time been wearing 
her right title. I have heard that the earth 
is the cradle, or the incubator, of the human 
race, and that the other planets, all inter- 
communicable, are inhabited by those who 
have passed through the earth experience. 
There may be other Mother planets. I 
don't know. But "His kingdom ruleth 
over all." 

I have not tried to write you lately, because 
I have been on the job night and day. The 
world we are to go to will be the Country 
of the Young in fact. So many boys are 
coming out. And they are all right. Do get 
that word across. Do make it your business 
to get that across. The one thing that 
troubles the men who come here is the fact 
that the ones that love them are in agony. 
Get around on that side of the question with 
your old pluck and tell the mothers and 
fathers and sisters and wives to stop crying. 
No man can stand the sight of tears, the 
sound of sobs. They feel it much worse 
here, because they can't get in touch to com- 
fort. It's awful. It will seem queer when 
I say that we don't bother much about any 
physical pain our folks suffer. That is a 



Thy Son Liveth 43 

transitory thing. We know it for what it 
is. But we are still capable of mental 
anguish. That is the hell-material. And 
every tear shed on earth falls on a 
heart here. A wail is continually com- 
ing to us from every side. Have them 
stop it. 

I know you can't do much toward spread- 
ing this truth. But do something. What 
do you care what the neighbors think? 
If a few really get in touch with us the news 
will spread. Tell them there is nothing 
solemn and mysterious about it. Get a 
number of women together. I'll come and 
bring an operator. Did I explain.^ If you 
can't send messages yourself and some can- 
not now, — you transmit them just as we 
do when we drop into a Western Union or 
Postal and write out our night letters. 
You are a good receiver because we had all 
that wireless work together when I was a 
kid. Get the women : not the highbrows 
who know too much to believe anything 
as natural as inter-space communication. 
But simple, homey mothers. I was wrong 
about Mrs. K. Too much learning has 
made her mad. Think of some one simpler, 
more convincible. 



44 Thy Son Liveth 

Make it plain that this communication is 
given from my mind to yours as plainly as 
an old man at 26 Broadway talks to his 
secretary about other invisible riches. Better 
not say that. What I want to do is to rid 
this system of all its bewildering and mystic 
features. Make an engagement for me : 
I'll attend, mentally ; then sit down and take 
my messages openly, before folks. Every 
one fears the unknown and minimizes the 
commonplace. 

The limitations of the human vision and 
the circumscribed range of the human per- 
ception of sound are what separate us. 
Not that we are forever, even in thought, 
hovering around our folks on earth. That 
would be rather horrid, wouldn't it.^^ We 
observe proprieties and wait for invitations. 
Just while we are trying to establish 
communications, we are making frequent 
calls. After that we go about our business 
and send our messages by operators from 
wherever we may be — and we'll make visits 
as boys go home at Christmas or birthdays. 
If you send very urgent calls, we must 
answer. But you will not do this when 
you know that we have important work to 
do in our environment. I do not know 



Thy Son Liveth 45 

as yet what it is to be in my case. It may 
be electrical engineering or some wireless 
telegraph development. I hope it may be 
something that will lead to an understand- 
ing between the worlds. 

You ask who else are here beside the sol- 
diers. In this particular group are only the 
men and women assigned to field service. 
Mostly soldiers and Red Cross nurses. But 
we have encountered many women on the 
battleground and among the wounded. These 
are mothers and wives who are on this side, 
and they look after their own. I am told 
that the war has called all these spiritual 
forces into action. There is a mobilization 
here of the generation immediately con- 
nected with the troops, — fathers and 
mothers and near of kin, — to attend these 
boys and to bring them out. 

We are still in the earth envelopment. 
Jack Wells says we may be transferred to 
America. I w^ould give anything for a 
little fore knowledge now. But we have 
not progressed far enough to claim that. 
Of course our intuitions are sharper than 
they were before we came out. That is 
about ^U, And we all think that America 



46 Thy Son Liveth 

is covered by a net of German treachery and 
an unthought-of danger from within. There 
are cunning devils, in the flesh and out of 
it, conspiring against the United States. 
This young giant-land of ours must not be 
beaten. The final victory must be with 
our flag. Let the women stand by. Beg 
them to do as you are doing. Yes, I know. 
Have them sell their jewelry and pour 
every luxury into the war fund. I'll tell 
you all I learn from time to time. 

A fellow of the Marine Corps has just 

come to this rest station with a girl. He is 
dazed and does not seem to recognize her. 
She is a schoolmate of his, and very likely 
has kept a little romance folded away in 
her soul. I hope he will recall her when he 
gets his bearings. She has been on this 
side for several years. Seeing her around 
him makes me think I'd like to have a pretty 
little thing like that fluttering around me. 

Mother, dear, when you are writing for 
me, be rather careful not to interpolate. 
You do not, much. But we want this to be 
pretty direct, don't we? Our only object 
now is to get this comfort, — this possi- 
bility of communication between the seen 



Thy Son Liveth 47 

and unseen living, — to those that mourn. 
You do not feel any fatigue or strain, do 
you ? Your arm does not get numb ? Why 
should there be any effect of that sort? 
This is simply thought transference, dicta- 
tion. A perfectly natural thing. Induce 
others to get into communication with these 
boys who want to butt in while I talk to 
you. I am besieged to give you addresses. 
But if you can get any publisher to take these 
notes, I guess that will be the best way to 

get an audience. Try or . They 

are both good firms and liberal thinkers. 

I hope I can go on before long where I can 
get into working harness. I believe my mind 
is going to be clearer and quicker to act than 
formerly. I mean to work on devices to 
combat the German machines. If I succeed 
I'll get in touch with Edison, if he is still 
in the game there. In the meantime I'll 
attend to my job of easing the hurts made 
by the guns. We have been taught to do 
that; otherwise there would be great suf- 
fering. I must go now. 

We are immediately going to start for 
the Outside. Other companies have come 
to take our places on the field. I am dis- 



48 Thy Son Liveth 

tinctly agitated. Do not know whether I 
shall be able to get in touch with you or 
not. Shall certainly try. Anyway, you will 
know that I am all right, and that some day 
we are going to be together again. Be a 
game little sport, and don't cry. I'll feel 
your tears if you do. And they will make 
me wretched. Everything is all right. No 
doubt, whatever. I hope that I shall be 
able to visit you. Anyway, we are mother 
and son and — pals, always. 

I am still in the atmosphere. We had 
prepared to leave for a destination unnamed : 
for others arrived to take our places as helpers 
on the battle field. Some men, or I suppose 
they are angels, came to act as our escort. 
Jack Wells got our particular bunch — about 
forty — into shape, and we stood in march- 
ing formation on a little hill until the word 
was given to start. We did not fly or float 
or anything like that. We just marched at 
a good rattling pace. The only thing strange 
about it was that we did not mind such 
natural obstacles as forests or rivers, but 
went right along through or over them. 
This was the case out of doors. But we 
did not pass through closed buildings o]ri 
Is; A.t ^U times we looked for the oper^st 



Thy Son Liveth 49 

ings or gates. I asked the man (angel) 
about whether we had really bulk or weight. 
He answered me. But I didn't understand 
well enough to make it clear, I am afraid. 
I think he meant that our bodies are heavier, 
or denser, than air. As these facts are made 
known to me, I will tell you. We passed 
through several villages, one of which I 
had seen on the way to the line. It had 
been shelled and destroyed. There were 
human bodies everywhere. They looked 
like, and were, no more than so many aban- 
doned shells or coverings. From this point 
of view there is no more in death than re- 
moval from one house to another. In most 
cases the separation of the soul and body was 
complete. Where there was still some cling- 
ing to the body on the part of the self, some 
of us waited to comfort and cheer. Now and 
then we came across a frightened or dazed 
spirit : and we helped there. But there 
were many men and women from this side 
present among the ruins, and their special 
care seemed to be the children. Some 
beings (angels) literally carry the little 
ones on their bosoms. 

I had supposed that we would leave the 
atmosphere of the earth by ascending into 
higher regions. We are all more or less 



50 Thy Son Liveth 

influenced by Raphael's "Ascension", I 
suppose. But it seems that there are points 
of egress reached by defined channels. Ports 
of departure. At present I cannot tell you 
where the one we were assigned to is located, 
because we were recalled. And the manner 
of the recalling will interest you. The march 
was well under way when there was an order 
to "right about face" and we started back. 
Jack Wells was marching with the Man in 
command, — I have not yet learned his 
name or what to call him, — when he turned 
around and said he had orders to return. 
• How he got the orders puzzled me. There 
were no messengers or mechanical means 
like telephones or wireless. But it seems 
we acquire the ability to hear anything ad- 
dressed to us, personally, through any 
amount of space. That is how you reach 
us. And what we are tryi7ig to do now is 
to have you hear us as well as we hear you. 
Please italicize this when you print what I 
say. I wish you would read Swedenborg 
again, and compare what he says with what 
I may be able to tell you. You remember 
we read a book of his together that winter 
I had to stay indoors. I hope to see some 
of our great forces over on this side, or be- 
yond this particular side, as I progress. 



Thy Son Liveth 51 

Just when that will be I cannot guess. It 
seems we are still needed on the battle fields 
where our work is to ease the wounded. 
This we are able to do. Emphasize this, 
mother. For every boy that is hurt or terri- 
fied, there is a comforter. I wrote you that 
we hear, continually, that the Savior is 
often seen on the fields. I have not dared 
to look, sometimes, when I have felt, rather 
than seen, a strange soft light. I am not 
ready to look just now. But there is no 
doubt but that He moves among the soldiers. 
I am called away. 

I get all your messages, mother. I can 
only answer a few questions. Partly be- 
cause I am not yet sure of many things here 
and partly because there seems to be no 
means of communication concerning cer- 
tain conditions. That is : when we get 
beyond the usual, we are beyond the common 
medium of language. The words we know 
are inadequate to express our revelations. 
Of course until we move on into the Big 
Places, we are really on almost the same 
footing as though I too were in the flesh. 
But when the Big Places are reached, I shall 
have more difiiculty in conveying my in- 
formation. At least, so I suppose. Now 



52 Thy Son Livetii 

I am to continue in the ether for a time 
anyway. Ought to pick up considerable 
news for you. If I dwell on things that seem 
the least important, perhaps it is because 
of this angle of vision. Now the all impor- 
tant matter to the boys here is to have their 
folks know that they are alive and well and 
filled with intense enthusiasm and ambition. 
Take up the Bible and read it with this 
that I am telling you in mind. I expect, 
as time goes on, I shall be able to describe 
scenes and customs to you, — after the 
manner of the observant traveler, — but 
now what you must learn is this : In this 
intermediate place which is neither wholly 
material nor wholly spiritual, we are busy 
and so happy, or would be if it were not 
for the sobs and tears of our folks. Please 
do not give way to sadness, mother. And 
for heaven's sake (this is literally for heaven's 
sake) beg the mourners to stop crying, and 
to cease wearing black clothes. 

We have returned to our former quarters 
on a hill above Verdun. The fighting is 
continual, and there is much for us to do. 
Many are coming out. Charlie Spenser 
came wandering across the field in a dazed 
sort of way, He was |lad to see me a»cl 



Thy Son Liveth 53 

did not dream that I had been changed. 
He is not reconciled to death because he is 
in love with a girl on earth. That seems 
to break up the philosophy. A man can 
leave every one else with resigned calmness 
but the one girl he loves. He is in great 
mental agony, and I am going to get one of 
our instructors to take him in hand. 

The angel came into my tent and talked 
with Spenser. I have got to get what he 
said clear in my mind before I transmit it 
to you ; the purport of it is simply this : 
Each created being is the half of another 
created being. When these two halves are 
brought together, it is marriage. There 
may be many alliances in a person's life. 
But only one marriage. That sounds like 
the affinity business we heard so much of 
at one time. But you would not think it 
sounded that way if you heard this angel 
explain it. I'll get down to his real mean- 
ing and write more. 

This is it. There are no separations of 
those who belong together. Emphasize "be- 
long." Spenser's girl will come to him here if 
she is his other half, and their marriage will 
be consummated in heaven. I asked the 



54. Thy Son Liveth 

angel what if the girl should marry, and he 
surprised me by saying she probably would, 
certainly should do so. That she should 
fulfill the law of her being on earth by wife 
and motherhood. That accomplished, she 
will find her spiritual mate and the man 
who had been her husband on earth will 
find his own complementary self. It all 
sounded simple and rather familiar. I think 
you will not be shocked when you really 
consider that we are not dealing with the 
ephemeral life of the body but of the eternal 
verity, the soul. There are some things 
I want to ask the Man when I can screw 
my courage to the sticking point. Among 
them is whether one who has not been in 
love, as we say, on earth, can expect such 
an experience here. I will find out and let 
you know. 

I get any thought, I suppose, that is 
directed to me. I cannot undertake to 
say how or why. In fact I am not informed 
as to these things. I do not know why any 
more than I knew, in class, why one ray of 
light was white and one was violet. I read 
what the scientists said, of course, and let 
it go at that. Their facts did not dent my 
understanding. 



Thy Son Livetli 55 

If ever I send another message to our 
old neighbors, after this is done, I am going 
to urge them to open their minds to many 
things. From this point of view I am pretty 
sure that however wild a proposition may 
appear to be, it is certain to contain an ele- 
ment of truth. If millions of dusty papers 
lost on the shelves of the Patent Office 
might be brought out, I have no doubt 
that old What's-his-name would find among 
them a fulcrum to fit his lever, so he could 
go about moving the earth. That reminds 
me that we must not stop pushing these 
facts over prejudices and difficulties. Get 
them boiled down to the utmost simplicity. 
To a sentence, if you can. Life is continu- 
ous and souls go marching on. That's the 
big truth. All other things can be added 
unto it. Many things I say are not authori- 
tative. But this thing is. Look in the 
Bible, with these spectacles on, and see. As 
far as modes of living, habits of angels, 
philosophies and opinions, my reports are 
likely to be as accurate as the average travel- 
er's in an unfamiliar country. But I'll 
correct any misstatement as I go on and 
learn more. Our main business, now, 
is to establish definite lines of communi- 
cation. 



56 Thy Son Liveth 

The fighting has swung back to about the 
place where I fell. Think of me as doing a 
man's part still, right in the battle. We do 
not fight. We form the relief division and 
bring comfort and aid to the wounded. 
Many of the soldiers see us ; that does not 
mean, always, that they are dying men. 
They seem to have supernormal vision. 
I do not like that word. But let it go. 

I was easing a boy in my arms ; but he 
was very young, and he wanted his mother. 
I could not comfort him. Some One beside 
me said: "I will take him." I could not 
look up. But I knew Who it was. Let 
mothers hear of this. 

Please do not elaborate anything I tell 
you, dear. I must go. A whole battalion 
is coming out. 

I have not met any relatives. You know 
we are still on earth. Some of the boys 
who have folks in far places get leave to 
go and see them. But I feel that my job 
is right here. Awhile ago I lifted up a 
wounded color-bearer, and together we kept 
the flag from touching the ground. That 
seemed to be his main idea. I held him until 



Thy Son Liveth 57 

relief came and promised to wait in case Le 
should come west. But he is to recover. A 
girl from the Red Cross hospital was working 
alone, plucky as any one, regardless of the 
fact that a counter-charge of glorious furies 
in horizon blue had cut her off from her 
friends. A shell struck her; and later she 
let me guide her into the Quiet. She looks 

like one of the McL girls. But she is 

dazed and can't tell her name. She'll be 
all right soon. 

I cannot tell when it will end. When or 
how. No one but God knows what plan is 
being evolved from this chaos of worlds. Do 
not put any faith in prophecies except those 
in the Book. I mean the Bible. I am not 
guiding your hand. Can't you understand ? 
My thoughts flow into your mind, and your 
thoughts flow into my mind. Get some 
figure — the movement of tides, maybe, 
to fix this truth. Back and forth, carrying 
and releasing, delivering to and acquiring 
from the shores. 

We are getting on famously, and as we 
progress I think we shall discover even greater 
facilities for expression. I think communi- 
cation would have been established and 



58 Thy Son Liveth 

accepted as a perfectly natural thing if the 
human mind had not opposed so many ob- 
stacles. Humanity makes images to repre- 
sent God, invents machinery to improve on 
His gift of perception, and refuses to credit 
voices and visions that are not man made. 
Better cut them (obstacles) out. Criticism 
does not land us anywhere. 

I am so busy that I do not think of saying 
the loving things I know you long to hear. 
But I never loved you better than I do now. 
I know more about you, and about mothers 
everywhere. 

The Red Cross girl that I brought across 

the line is not one of the McL s. But 

she is pretty and jolly and a bear for work. 
She is constantly with us on the field. Her 
folks live in Wisconsin, but she says they 
will have to wait until they come here before 
they learn that it is well with her. They 
believe in the immortality of the soul. But 
proof of their belief scares them. Her name 
is Ann. Sometimes she hears her mother 
cry. Then it is hard for her. 

Many women are here now. And their 
work is mostly among the babies and young 



Thy Son Liveth 59 

slain. There are lots of these. The little 
chaps are very popular. A nursery has 
been built on a shady hill. We have the 
same sun and planets that light you. 

Women and men work together in natural 
harmony. There are preferences and avoid- 
ances and some sweethearting. But for 
the most part the business in hand occupies 
all of us. I do not know how it will be as 
we go on further. This is a great receiving 
camp. It looks as though it had been chosen 
by engineers and established as a model can- 
tonment. I am impressed with the system 
that does not intrude itself as system. 
Yes. We dress and undress. There is a 
general commissary who issues our clothes 
in military fashion. I do not know how they 
are originally obtained. At first the stuff 
felt different from the material of the uni- 
form I shed in Flanders. But now I do not 
notice anything peculiar about it. Maybe 
I am used to it, and have forgotten the old. 

I know you miss me, mother. And that 
you are very anxious to come on. But sit 
tight until you get the signal. Sit tight, 
do you hear me, dear? And warn all with 
whom you talk against suicide. I do not 



60 Thy Son Liveth 

gather from what I hear that curses afflict 
any poor soul that makes that mistake. 
But the self-inflicted death disarranges and 
delays the plans that arc being shaped for 
the individual. Every detail of life is worked 
out with a thoroughness only possible in 
spiritual geometry. A sudden break neces- 
sitates rebuilding the whole theory. It may 
require skill for you to tell what you have 
to tell and yet restrain broken-hearted ones 
from throwing themselves across the invis- 
ible line. Of course, they want to rejoin 
their darlings. But that will be later. No 
one is received here now except soldiers 
assigned to duty and men and women of the 
Red Cross and military, and those who come 
from the war zone with death. 

A great thing has developed and it shows 
which way the winds of God begin to blow. 
I have been assigned to pick up wireless 
from the enemy lines and transmit it to the 
Allies. I've worked the clock around on 
this. Every chance has been given the Hun 
to fight a fair fight. Now, it seems, the 
angels are arming against him. 

There is no curse attached to anything, 
as far as I can find out. Laws are finely 



Thy Son Liveth 61 

adjusted, and their principles are immutable, 
in the main. But God can change laws, 
even His own. There is nothing in all the 
worlds to handicap the big race the soul 
makes for perfection. We, here, are m the 
very beginning of it. The girl, Ann, says 
the immensity of the work ahead would 
appall her mother more than the threat ot 
hell She is so tired. You and your kmd 
do not really know that the world is full of 
toil-tired women. So tired that they hate 
the thought of heaven unless it means rest. 
After all it is not for us to map heaven. 1 
do not know what or where it is, or if there 
is such a state. We just want to tell what 
we do know. And that is, Life is not snuffed 
out by war or any other calamity, ihe 
Hun cannot kill the soul of a woman or a 
tree or himself. 

None of my statements about less impor- 
tant matters are to be taken as certainties 
unless I quote our instructors. They may 
not be infallible, but I presume they are. 
But this is our big fact : I am really, vitally 
alive All others who have passed the 
change called death are alive and progress- 
ing toward fuller life. Harp on that string. 
Keep at it. Do not let your mind become 



62 Thy Son Liveth 

discouraged or confused. Nothing that I 
can write you is of any importance compared 
to this. I am called away. 

I know what you are up against. You 
are in for ridicule and the sort of publicity 
that is hardest to bear. But have at it. Get 
the word across. Don't fix up my notes 
much. Let them smash away as they come 
right off the bat. They are not only to com- 
fort the people there, but to relieve the boys 
here. They worry like the deuce over their 
folks. Some few who know what we are 
doing are after me all the time to help them 
get in touch with their own. They make 
constant efforts to connnunicate. 

Think of the situation this way : A child 
(for instance) is screaming and sobbing in 
the terrors of nightmare. His mother tries 
to waken him, to reassure him, and tell him 
that he is safe in her arms, against her 
breast, that all is right. But she cannot 
make him listen and understand. There 
you have it. It's the same thing, exactly. 
Wake them up, mother. Hush their sobs. 
The Everlasting arms are not failing. All 
is well. "If it were not so I would have 
told you. " 



Thy Son Liveth 63 

Don't argue. We cannot convince any 
one against his will. Let him believe or 
deny. You are only a messenger. One 
accepts the heartease you offer, or he does 
not. Perhaps by the time this page is 
printed, the light-which-is-to-be will be 
shining on the earth. Undoubtedly the 
mystery that befogs us is likely to be soon 
lifted. 

The work of the young girls on the battle 
field is a revelation. They are the same 
kind of girls that you used to have out for 
the week-ends : pretty and cultivated and 
all that. But they have gone through some 
sort of transformation while they are still 
in the flesh. That is, the little, tinkly 
garments of silliness have dropped away 
and left fine spirit. But the women at home 
are not doing enough. The sacrifice has 
got to be made. Every one will be stripped 
down to soul before this is all done. Don't 
talk of houses and jewels and servants 
and lands when men are rebuilding the 
foundations of the earth with their bare 
hands. 

Yes. We sleep and waken refreshed. 
I'm told we shall require food as we go on. 



64 Thy Son Liveth 

Jack's father and mother Hve in a house and 
have food and water. I think we absorb 
water, mostly. But when we pass springs, 
I stoop to drink. 

The instructor (angel) whom I told you 
about is getting Charlie Spenser into line. 
He has made it clear that there can be 
no permanent separation of two parts of a 
whole. It appears that every one is or will 
be married. The twain shall be one spirit. 
I judge from his statement that marriage 
is consummated here. 

You wonder how we stand the cursings 
that we must hear ? I am told that all such 
sounds are produced by the gasses of terror 
and are a part of the crashing and rending 
of tortured souls. I do not believe the 
Divine Intelligence regards these explosions. 
Of course we are punished for defiance of 
law. That goes on in all parts of the spiritual 
as well as the material worlds. But (and 
I want to go cautiously here because I am 
not sure that I have cinched the big idea) 
some of our worst old sins show up small 
in comparison with others that we have 
been rather proud of, and referred to as 
*' faults." I can't say what they are. I 
suppose each fellow knows his own. 



Thy Son Liveth Q5 

Too bad that you are not able to convince 
Cooper's mother that he is all right. He is 
more than all right. And he may serve to 
illustrate a point I indicated recently. You 
know how weak he used to be, and dissipated ? 
Rather worthless and all that? Well, he 
is one of the most esteemed men here. Of 
course, he proved that he had courage when 
he hopped out of the trench with that gre- 
nade and saved his company. I told you 
about it. But he has a ciuality, a kind of 
compassion for all men, that makes him tower 
above the rest of us. It is hard to take the 
measure of a man. There are so many 
bewildering standards. It's rather easier 
here. 

Our use of the terms "here" and "there" 
is likely misleading. At this stage, as I 
have explained, we are not separated from 
you ; I mean that we are not removed from 
the influences and conditions of the earth. 
I do not know how to search for expressions 
that will convey the truth simply to all who 
may read these letters. If we are going to 
get to the people with this, we must take 
some steps to interest a publisher. How 

would it do to see ? Better think it 

over. I cannot advise. My judgment is 
no good. 



66 Thy Son Liveth 

We do not know when we are to be sent 
on to some other field. You remember 
we were once recalled when we had almost 
reached an important port of departure 
from this environment. The subject of 
these points of egress interests me greatly. 
It seems that there are certain defined 
avenues of intercommunication. We do not 
fly up and into some other sphere. We 
travel by established channels. I am very 
anxious to find out just what this means, 
and I shall hope to let you know. There 
must be some reason why, of all the millions 
who have passed the lines, no one has defined 
the boundaries of the unseen worlds. We 
talk the matter over, here, and have about 
agreed that language becomes inadequate, 
or we enter upon untranslatable conditions. 
Then, too, we may begin to count time by 
the thousand-year schedule. With the reali- 
zation that you will soon be with us, we do 
not think to send you descriptions of what 
you are to see. One thing we must not lose 
sight of. This is the land of the living, and 
the loved ones are safe. 

I picked up a kitten in my tent. An angel 
who was passing told me, quietly, to put it 
down. There was something curious in 



Thy Son Liveth 67 

his look. I did not quite get it. You will 
be interested in this. But help me to keep 
our subject clear. It is easy to wander off 
into mazes of danger, although there is a 
perfectly straight, clean path to follow, if 
one will. I think it important for you to 
warn people of this danger. It is, I am told, 
particularly apparent in this zone. However, 
in any zone the soul carries its own means 
of defense. 

Souls are being fused in these flames and 
purified. The bravery of men is applauded 
by the angels. I have seen them rush to 
welcome some little chap who has given his 
life to save others. That is the Christ 
quality — the highest form of love. 

No human power can stop the war. The 
fighting may go on until the generations 
now on earth are all transferred to the spirit- 
ual worlds. God does not intervene. We 
cannot know His purposes. We only know 
that those who die yet live. 

A lot of fellows in my tent were talking 
about the peculiar agony of suspense that 
mothers have to bear. Jack Wells spoke of 
that night in Gethsemane when the dis- 



68 Thy Son Liveth 

ciples slept. But somewhere in that garden 
was one who did not sleep. Mary watched all 
the dark night. Mothers are like that now. 

There is no method about inter-space 
communication. The fuss of preparation 
is unnecessary and confusing. We do not 
need the material aids of paper and pencil, 
as our minds converse. I recommend the 
transcriptions because you are reporting 
these notes for a purpose. We want them 
as accurate as possible. Of course, I get 
balled up. But we'll keep sight of the plan. 

The fight goes on ceaselessly. We do 
not share your feeling of appalling horror 
and pain. We see, rather, the hosts of 
clean young men coming to found their 
true democracy. Perhaps, you had better 
write "augment" in place of "found." 

As we progress I find we are less inclined 
to criticize the efforts or condemn the failures 
of others. Something of truth must be in 
the minds of even the fakers who try to 
materialize spirits and set tables to jumping 
about a room. Primitive people were taught 
by means of crude spectacles. But now we 
have a way more suited to our developing 
intelligence. 



Thy Son Liveth 69 

I told you about my wireless work. It 
seems to us to indicate a change in the plan, 
a movement on the part of the Lord to 
intervene. We have all wondered why God 
did not sweep the Huns out of their wicked- 
ness. But humanity is, we suppose, allowed 
to exhaust itself before Divinity steps in. 
What are the words in the Book? Except 
the Lord stretch forth His hand, all flesh 
will perish from the earth. Please look 
up the exact wording. 

Do not let us stop, now, to go over what 
I have said and correct inconsistencies. 
The way unrolls continually, and I get vari- 
ous angles of vision. I am not seeing much, 
as yet, that is so very different from the 
earth as you know it. I should say that 
the difference is chiefly in my new keenness 
of perception. 

Wells makes occasional journeys to the 
place where his folks live. I quote him, 
particularly, because you know him. When 
I ask him how it is out yonder, he says for 
me to wait and see for myself. This may 
illustrate the point I have been trying to 
make. I asked him about the marriage of 
his older sister and her husband. I heard 



70 Thy Son Liveth 

that the married become incorporated in 
one body. That is not just as it seemed 
at first to be. The two who love and marry 
are one in spirit and act and think as one 
soul. But they are separable in form and 
able to pursue their independent ways. 

f J 

I have formed a friendship with Ann. 
She is as playful as a child, and I like her. 
But we are not mentally companionable. 
You remember a poem you liked by Miss 
Colson, about laughter in Heaven? Well, 
there is laughter here all right. I could not 
repeat a joke or any special thing that 
might be labeled humorous that is said 
or done. But there is a kind of joyousness 
that finds expression in laughter. 

Cooper has gone back to Blighty. I 
missed him and asked Jack where he had 
gone. I do not understand yet. Will let 
you know. Am excited over news. Must go. 

I have a delicate task here, mother. 
Cannot speak of it without higher authority. 
If I receive that, I know I can depend on 
your judgment and good taste. I have con- 
ferred with Wells, who is further advanced 
than I am. Wait alone for this. 



Thy Son Liveth 71 

There are lots of wireless men here, and 
we are busy. We are immensely improved 
in our work, and are able to decipher any 
code. The German operators cannot see 
us when we are around. But a man can- 
not be a wireless expert unless he has a 
finely developed sense. They feel us, all 
right. And they are afraid. 

Mother, it is not a new thought, but it is 
true that all forms of life are created dual. 
We have spoken of the human and spiritual 
only briefly, because I am crassly ignorant, 
even yet. But Nature is also two-sided ; 
material and ethereal. Everything is dupli- 
cated, forest, stream, landscape. Does that 
fact not make my place of residence more 
tangible to you? I should have told you 
sooner if I had heard of it. 

Yes, I know what you are up against 
trying to get this across. Poor little mother ! 
Her neighbors think she is a nut. But if 
you can get a few to try to write they will 
start things. Explain how simple it is. 
A place, a pencil, a pad of paper and a heart 
crying the name of a boy. That's all that 
is necessary. 



72 Thy Son Liveth 

I have permission to tell you that Cooper 
has, because of his understanding and com- 
passion, been sent back home as an instructor. 
His body, sustained by some life principle 
which I cannot explain, has been all this 
time in a reconstruction hospital back of the 
French lines. You may see him with your 
own eyes. And you will know that any man 
who has crossed No Man's Land, and returned, 
has a message to the world from God. 

Wells is hurrying on with his preparations 
to go. I do not know whether I am to go 
with him or not. I rather hope I may. 
And yet I do not want to cut off our line of 
communication. I think after I leave this 
environment, I shall have greater difficulty in 
communicating. As I have said before, I 
shall, perhaps, enter into less translatable 
conditions. The common speech may be 
inadequate. That, alone, may account for 
the futile messages transmitted through 
mediums. Still, the spirit is free to travel, 
and it is likely I may find a way to continue 
my letters to you and to give you such 
information as may be permitted. 

You hope I will not go, dear.^^ Well, I 
may hang around here indefinitely. Many 



Thy Son Liveth 73 

are coming in, however, and it looks as 
though we might be transferred. One reason 
makes me rather keen to go. Jack told 
me about his younger sister last night. She 
is, it seems, a tremendous favorite with 
him. I said I wished I could see her. And 
there she was ! A vision, reallj^ in response 
to my wish. I don't believe heaven has a 
sweeter sight. I saw her plainly : dark- 
haired, blue-eyed, with a face of great 
brightness and fine color. Up to this time 
that I am relating the circumstances to you 
it has seemed miraculous, out of the natural 
order of things, that I could conjure up 
this girl's likeness. But I now realize that 
faculty to be the commonest in the world. 
You are exercising it, now, as you think of 
me and of her. Here is a point, mother. 
Maybe you can elaborate it. You project 
your thought to any scene or you draw 
toward you whatever vision you will. 
Words, one-syllabled or many, unlock the 
intelligences in all familiar ways. But the 
faculties of the creature made in God's 
own image are for the most part undeveloped, 
inert. Think of this in very simple terms. 
We are made in God's own image. Not 
faint resemblances of Him, but images. 
Look the word up in the best authorities. 



74 Thy Son Liveth 

We ought to be able to aceompHsh anything. 
At first I tried to say that the inner ear and 
the inner vision must be opened to make 
communication as easy as it is natural. 
Upon this, I am now sure, depend social 
relations of the worlds. We shall see each 
other, face to face, when we get rid of the 
acquired films that shut out vision, and the 
obstacles that impede the ways of sound. 

A good deal of the old temper seems to 
be sticking to me. I got in with some 
Boches to-day on the battle field, and felt 
a rush of hate and fury, impossible to de- 
scribe. I rushed among the wounded like 
a mad man. But He was there, ministering. 
I hardly know how I came away. 

I talked with Wells about this, later, in 
my tent. He said we must give up thinking 
of Christ as ours alone. He quoted His 
words, as the mob howled around Him on 
Calvary : 

"Father, forgive them, for they know not 
what they do." 

It may be that the peculiar conditions of 
our work here make my judgments rather 
one-sided. I fancy in other locations. 



Thy Son Liveth 75 

America for instance, the people who have 
come out must see many things in alto- 
gether different lights. They are dying 
around you, every day. It should be per- 
fectly simple to communicate with them. 
We are dwelling on the military exodus for 
the reasons We have outlined. 

Mother, I often think of the days when I 
was a little boy. How good, and patient, 
you have always been to me. Don't forget 
in all this striving to let other hearts have 
comfort that the same old love is in your 
boy's heart for you. 

I got your wire calling my attention to 
the scriptural statement that in heaven 
there is neither marriage or giving in mar- 
riage, and I do not know what to say. It 
seemed (until you gave me this jolt) that the 
Bible bears out everything that I have been 
able to tell you. Perhaps the chronicler 
got balled up in this particular quotation. 
For love and marriage are certainly in bud 
and flower here. I can see this fact with my 
own eyes. Many things that I write you 
I gather from others, relying on you to weed 
out that which does not contribute to the 
big plan, or any flagrant inconsistency that 



76 Thy Son Liveth 

may rob some soul of a crumb of comfort. 
Don't bother about much else. This is a 
message, and it requires haste. 

Of course, there are false reports and re- 
porters here. Not makers of lies, so much, 
as natural dramatists who see all things 
in an exaggerated and spectacular form. 
Then, there are the symbolists who write 
the revelations. 

Any critic would have me on the hip, 
and they will all be after you, if you can 
scare up a publisher to take this. And yet 
you will likely find a world more ready to 
listen, openly, to such a message than it 
has ever been before. Back in the human 
consciousness has always been a belief 
in spiritual things. The belief has been 
mixed with the terror of the unknown and 
denied because of that fear. Now the hand 
of God draws His worlds so near that they 
can whisper to each other. 

Cooper will take up his old life on earth, 
and his mother will have her son. But he 
will not be the same. None of those who go 
back will be the same. Angels, dressed in 



Thy Son Livetli 77 

stained and faded khaki, will walk the 
familiar streets. Listen to them. 

Dogs come and go freely, back and forth 
across the invisible line. I am told this as 
a fact. They do not need to leave their 
natural bodies to associate with those who 
have died. They often follow their masters. 
Other animals have not quite these privi- 
leges, but after dissolution they appear 
here. I may not be clear. I often find a 
certain embarrassment in saying things that 
I, myself, would once have called bunk. 
But I guess they are true, all right. 

Try and remember, mother, dear, that 
I do not know much more than I did when 
I left you. That is, no wisdom has been 
given me. I am, however, quickened in my 
perceptions, and my natural bent is en- 
couraged. I have every opportunity to 
learn. I suppose arbitrary rules must under- 
lie this harmonious system of living. But 
they are not felt. None of us are fretted 
by "shalt nots" or "shalls." We seem to 
go along about as we please. But we please 
to move with enthusiastic energy ; if we 
did not, I suppose we might feel the sharp 
stick. 



78 Tliy Son Liveth 

We do not have classes in the ordinary 
acceptance of the term. But men of like 
interests gather and exchange information. 
I have learned a lot about wireless that I 
hope to communicate some other time; 
through a technician, maybe. 

I want to suggest to you to keep these 
notes entirely apart from anything else I 
write you. Do not make a big book. Let 
it be only a few pages to hide in a mourner's 
sleeve. Call it a sleeve book, if you want 
to. I think that might convey an idea. 
But in any case keep it free from subjects 
or speculations outside the main plan, which 
is : comfort for war-robbed humanity. Keep 
after that ! There is no death ! and don't 
let any attractive theory sidetrack you. 
The firing is continual and terrific. I must 
get on the job of guiding the boys through. 
They will come without fear. 

You feel the need for more definite informa- 
tion about this existence before you go 
out to talk of immortality. But you have 
all that your untutored Bob can tell you, 
and a thousandfold more in John. Read 
the fourteenth chapter again. It is all 
there : the whole plan of eternal life, con- 



Thy Son LIveth 79 

tinuous life, I mean. There are no mansions 
here, that I see. But, as I have explained, 
we form one of many special brigades or 
divisions of soldiers, and are now in active 
relief service in the war zone. We have 
tents and equipment ; we talk and walk 
and choose our companions. We love or 
like, or avoid others, according to our own 
impulses. We look as we did in the flesh. 
It seems almost as though we had only slipped 
out of our sldns, as the snakes do. A nat- 
ural process, familiar to simple people, 
but too simple to be considered by those 
butterfly hunters that try to net the soul. 
Please cut that out, mother. You might 
leave the comparison to the snake, however ; 
I think that holds some truth. 

The premise is all right, isn't it? You 
have it clear? There is no death. Life 
goes on without handicap or hindrance. 
We are very busy. There is no talk of peace, 
here. I gather from what the angels say 
that the war will go until many more of 
the valiant have come through this valley, 
and have gone on to form a new democracy 
on another plane. I am reporting impres- 
sions, and have no authority for my con- 
clusions, except the authority of my own 



80 Thy Son Liveth 

intelligence. Do not be terrorized even 
should an invasion of America be made. 
The easiest thing in life is death. 

Jack Wells and I are very close friends. 
His sister's name is Alice, and she has grown 
up in the country beyond, where his folks 
live. It seems all reach or return to maturity. 
Youth blossoms and flowers, but does not 
decay. I can call up her vision at any time. 
But I want her near. 

Christ walks among the wounded con- 
tinually. The dying see Him, and the hurt 
are healed by His hand. Many have told 
me, and several times I have felt Him near. 
Once, for a moment, I saw Him, I told 
you. 

Preserve an unemotional mind, dear. San- 
ity and simplicity are essential to our pur- 
pose. Do not go on any tangent of de- 
scription, or undertake analyses. What is 
here is here. Some people will find what 
we have hoped to give them. Others must 
find comfort in different ways. 

You have understood, haven't you ? That 
I no longer stop and dictate these things to 



Thy Son Liveth 81 

you ? I talk to you as I perform my tasks, 
or lie at rest, or march along my ways. It 
is almost certain that we are to be ordered 
on within a few hours' time. Destination 
unknown. But wherever it may be, I 
shall travel with eager curiosity. I shall 
surely tell you all I can. It may be that 
one returns to this boundary for purposes 
of communication. That will develop later. 

Take care of your health. You have a 
task that you must not fail to accomplish. 
You can bind up some of the most grievous 
wounds in the world. Keep your strength 
and go up and down the wailing places on 
the earth, and say and know: "Thy son 
liveth." That's your part. 

Isn't it foolish to try to convince any one 
of anything .f* What words are there to 
prove or disprove that life was and is and 
ever shall be? If one does not realize 
now naturally and without argument that 
he is an undying soul, he will come to realize 
it some time. Why hurry him ? 

I am on the march. And I am thinking 
of you, and the eternal verities, and of the 
wondering of a boy walking beside me, and 



82 Thy Son Liveth 

of the land that Hes beyond our Jordan. 
And through and over all these other thoughts 
is something that permeates them with a 
kind of thrilling fragrance. It is love, I 
think, mother. 

We are passing through a land laid waste 
and yet triumphant. I felt immensely sur- 
prised to see in all its beauty one great 
cathedral that had been destroyed. The 
angel said that all such buildings of prayer 
and song are spiritual and beyond vandal 
desecration. The bricks will be restored 
to conform to the imperishable idea. I do 
not want to get metaphysical (in the be- 
wildering way). I just want to say that I 
am improving in spiritual vision. When 
we started out before, you remember, I was 
only able to see the obvious : broken bodies 
of flesh and of stone. To-day I see the 
immortal structures. 

It is so simple, dear. Here I am on the 
open road that all humanity travels, going 
toward the enlarged opportunities that await 
me. I have been talking to the boy. He is 
not more than fourteen. But he fought 
his fight. Spenser has taken him under 
his wing. I don't mean that literally. 



Thy Son Liveth 83 

None of us have wings. But that reminds 
me of what I was going to tell you about 
the messengers. Some way those old Greeks 
must have been in touch with this side of 
the world. Olympus must have pierced 
the invisible. For instance, these messen- 
gers wear little wings on their feet. I do 
not know whether they grow there or not. 
One passed us a moment ago, treading the 
air with incredible grace. Hermes reborn. 
They are employed between some higher 
command and our own. 

Spenser is reconciled to wait for his girl 
to join him. There is so much to do that 
the time passes with much swiftness in and 
out of light and dark. We have the same 
natural divisions that you have. Why should 
this not be true ? We are still on earth. As 
we pass, differences may arise that we are 
not conscious of, but so far as I am able I 
shall keep you informed. 

We have now reached a river of surpassing 
beauty. I have always felt, and I am more 
impressed than ever with the feeling now, 
that a river is more spiritual than any other 
expression of physical nature. It may be 
that this is our port of egress. It is. We 



84 Thy Son Liveth 

have been commanded to halt. One desire 
seems to animate us all : that is to run down 
and swim in this shining stream. We have 
thrown away our outer garments and are 
plunging in. Good-by for now. I am 
running down to the water as I used to run 
down to the old mill-stream, tingling with 
joy. . . . 



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